Child&#39;s seat



Feb. 6, 1934. 1,945,781

' CHILD'S SEAT Filed.April 7,193: s Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 6, 1934. qKERSTEN 1,945,781

CHILD s SEAT med April 7, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 2 1 I fiflomgy Feb. 6,1934. J EN 1,945,781

CHILDS SEAT FiledApril 7, 1933 s Sheets-Sheet a \huerfl'ov dacob KeraTenK- 4 M MM Patented Feb. 6, 1934- UNITED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in Like reference numbers applyto like parts in child's seat and particularly to devices of the naturedisclosed in my copending patent application for baby jumper, filedMarch 21st, 1932,.

Serial No. 600,121.

The present invention relates particularly to the adjustable seatconstruction and provides a seat having a back portion which can bereadily adjusted to different angles and which is automatically adjustedto some extent. The invention also provides means for retaining the backin certain adjusted positions relative to the seat portion. Theconstruction of the device is simple and durable and permits readyremoval of the fabric portion from the'frame for cleaning. The inventionalso provides improvements in the support for the seat and particularlyin alinement of the folding members comprising the seat support.

The invention provides various novel features of construction andarrangement hereafter more fully described and particularly pointed outin the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

which,

Fig. 1 is'a perspective view of a device embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the pivoted portionsof the seat frame and the back frame.

Fig. 4 is a section Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the portion of the seat al .viewon-theline 4-4 of seat and upper support illustrating various angularpositions of the seat back.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the seat frame and back frame.

Fig. '7 illustratesthe fabric portion which constitutes the body of theseat and back, said fabric being in flat position in place therein.

with fragments of the frame seat support or carriage on which the seatis mounted. a

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of pivoted portions of thesupport members and folding braces illustrating the alining stop. L

Fig. 10 is a fragmentaryelevation of the part shown in Fig. 9, and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary section illustrating the turntachment.

button and it's means of atall the figures.

The article embodying this invention comprises a supporting frame havingtwo side members 1 which are preferably of yielding spring construction.Each of the side members is provided with castors 2 which rest upon thefloor and the base portions of the side members 1 arejoined by foldingbraces 3. Each of the folding braces consists of two levers pivotedtogether at 4 and having their opposite respective ends pivoted at 5 tothe respective base members of the frame 1. Alining stops 6 are providedon the base members of the frames 1 in position to be engaged by thefolding braces 3 and to limit movement of said braces 3 about the pivots5 so that the braces will extend at right angles to the frame 1 when inengagement with the stops 6. These stops 6 are preferably formed bybeing struck integrally from the metal of the base of the frame 1. v

A rectangular pan 7 is placed upon the base members of the frames 1 andlies over the folding braces 3 and is held in place by turn buttons 8.These turn buttons are in the nature of eyes rotatably connected to thepan 7 and extending downwardly therefrom. The braces 3 are provided withslots- 9 through which the turn buttons 8. may be thrust after whichtheturn buttons are rotated to extend transversely of the slots 9 to holdthe pan"? in place. The pan 7 is 86 provided with depressed portions 10at the-locations where the turn buttons are attached to it so that thewasher 11 and riveted portion of the turn button will not extend abovethe main surface of the pan '7.

The seat portion of the device is detachably connected to the upperparts of the respective supporting frames 1 when the device is assembledand also a tray is provided and extends between the upper parts of thesupporting frames 1. The tray comprises. a frame 12 upon which ismounted the-fabric receptacle portion 13 and the frame 12 of the tray isinserted in suitable Fig. 8 is a bottom p an view of the folding 14 theframes The seat frame 15 is of U-shape having a front member 16 and twoparallel side members 17. This U-shaped seat frame has headed supportinglugs 18 extending outwardly from the respective side members 17, onebeing located near each forward and rearward end of each side member andrecesses 19 are provided in the upper part of the supporting frames 1 toreceive the lugs 18. The recesses 19 have horizontal slots enlarged attheir rear ends of sufllcient size to receive the heads of the lugs 18and have portion at its forward end is supported on the frame work.

- longitudinal edge of the the other member 21 seat portion.

' the seat frame cent the fixed pivot 23.

downward extensions at their forward ends of sufficient size to receivethe shanks of the lugs 18. Movement of the seat frame rearwardly in therecesses 19 permits the lugs 18 to be removed through the enlargedportions of the recesses to completely detach the seat frame from thesupporting frame.

The back frame 20 of the seat has two substantially parallel members 21joined by an arch member 22 and the ends of the parallel members 21 are.pivotally connected to respective ends of the side members 17 of theseat frame. The pivotal connection 23 between one of the members 21- andone of the members 17 is a permanent connection while the pivotalconnection between and the other member 17 consists of a headed pin 24which extends through a recess 25 in the frame 17. The recess has alongitudinal portion of suflicientsize to embrace the shank of the pin24 and an enlarged of suiiicient size to pass the head of the pin 24.The pivotal connection of these parts may be separated by moving the pin24 forwardly so that its head may-be removed through the enlargedportion of the recess 25. Weight and thrust of the body of a child inthe seat normally tends to hold this detachable pivotal connection inassembled position. j The body of the seat and back are integral andformed of fabric and may be considered as having a bottom portion 26,sides 27, a front 28 and a back 29. Each of said sides, front and backare provided with hems forming loops through which parts of the seat andback frame extend and by means of which the fabric body The loops on thesides 27 receive the side members 17 of the seat frame. The loop on thefront portion 28 receives the front portion 18 of the seat frame and theloop on the back 29, which is arch-shaped, receives the arch-shapedportion 22 of the back frame and also extends over the upper parts ofthe side members 21 of the back frame. The front members 16 of the seatframe and the greater portions of the. members of the back frame arepreferably enclosed by rubber tubing which serves as a cushion over themetal frame work.

An adjustable brace 30 is provided to hold the back portion at variousangles relative to the The brace 30 is pivotally conto one of the sidemembers 17 of and extends angularly adjacent one of the side membersv 21of the back frame and is located at the side of the structure adja- Thepivotal connection 31 is preferably constructed to oifer some resistanceto movement for the purpose hereafter explained. The brace 30 has alongitudinal slot 32 and also near its swinging end has lateral notches33 and 34 extending from the upper slot 32. A headed stud 35 is fixed tothe side 21 of the back frame and its shank extends through the slot 32and may traverse the slot and also enter either of the notches 33 or 34as and for the purposehereafter described.

nected at 31 Operation in spaced apart relation, their bottom por-,tions being maintained in such relative positions by the folding braces3 and the angularity of the parts is adjusted and maintained byengagement of the brace members 3 with the alined stops 3.

The pan 7 is also-in place extending between the bottoms ofthe sideframes 1 and over the folding braces 3 and is held in place by the turnbuttons 8 which are inserted through the slots 9 and then turnedtransversely of the slots. The parts of the turn buttons 8 extendingthrough the pan lie in the depressions 10 and do not extend above themain surface of the pan so that there is no protrusion to obstruct orinjure the feet of the child using the device.

The seat assembly is carried by the upper parts of the side frames 1,the seat frame 15 being positioned horizontally and its side members 17being connected to the upper parts of the respective side frames 1 bymeans of the headed studs 18 which extend through the recesses 19. Thisseat frame holds the upper parts of the. side frames 1 in proper spacedapart relation and the tray frame 12, having the fabric receptacle 13,is also attached to the upper parts of the side frames 1.

The seat portion of the device and the weight of the child sittingtherein is entirely supported by connection of the seat frame 15 withthe supporting frames 1 and the back frame 20 of the seat with the backportion 29 of the fabric body thereof may be adjusted to the desiredangle relative to the seat frame and retained in such adjusted positionby means of the adjustable brace 30. The brace 30 is shown constructedto permit three angular positions of the seat back and also a completeforward folded position, not illustrated, but additional lateral notchesto receive the shank of the stud 35 may be provided to increase thenumber of positions in which the back may be held.

As illustrated in Fig.5 the back is held in its most erect position whenthe stud 35 is in the notch 33. When the stud is in the notch 34 theback is in its intermediate position and when the stud is at theouter'end of the slot 32 the back is at its extreme reclining position..When the back is in its extreme reclining position or in itsintermediate position the weight of the child in the seat tends to swingthe back rearwardl! and therefore stud 35 engages the rear end of theslot 32 in inclined position to prevent further rearward motion of theback and the stud engages the rear edge of the notch 34 which extends atright angles to the direction of thrust, in intermediate position. Theforward edge of the notch 34 is inclined so that forward movement of theback, when the stud 35 is in the notch 34 will cam the brace upwardlyand move the stud into the slot 32 making it unnecessary to manuallymove the brace 30 when it is desired to move it back or away from itsintermediate positlon. The notch 33 has both forward and rear dges atright. angles to the direction of thrust to prevent movement of the backin either direction when the stud 35 is in this notch. This is desirablebecause it has been found that when the back is in its substantiallyerect position the weight of the child in the seat may have a tendencyto move the back either forward or rearward. The seat back may be foldeddown-v wardly into the same plane as the frame 17 by permitting the stud35 to move forwardly in the y when the child sits the front fabricportion 28 of the seat. and the whole fabric body of the seat yields toconform to the shape and movements of the child. The

fabric back portion 29, having no division or cross barinanypartofitslength,providesamost comfortable support for the child's back andproperly supports its spine. If the child is in an active mood the seatback is adjusted to its erect position with the stud 35 in the notch 33and inasmuch as both sides of the notch 33 are straight and at rightangles to the direction of thrust, any amount of activity of the childwill not cause the brace to be misplaced and the back will be positivelyretained in this position.

When the child is in a quiet mood the seat back is adjusted to itssemi-reclining 01' intermediate position with the stud 35 in the notch34 and the weight of the child holds the stud 35 against the rearstraight edge of this notch. .If the child should fall asleepwith theback in its semireclining position it is desired to then move the backto its full reclining position so that the child may sleep comfortablyand this is accomplished without awakening the child by raising the seatback slightly which will cause the stud 35 to engage and traverse theforward inclined edge of the notch 34 and cam the brace upwardly so thatthe stud 35 will move into the slot 32 whereupon the back is movedrearwardly until the stud engages the rear end of the slot 32 whichlimits rearward movement of the back and retains it in its recliningposition. The frictional resistance offered by the pivot 31 prevents thebrace 30 dropping by gravity and also tends to retain it in engagementwith the stud 35 when said stud is in either of the notches 33 or 34.

The whole structure may be disassembled for compactness for storage orfor shipment by removing the seat and the tray from the frame supportand also by removing the pan '7 whereupon the folding braces 3 may befolded to permit the side frames 1 to be moved adjacent each other. Whenthus disassembled the seat may be compactly folded by pivoting the backframe 20 forwardly into the same plane as the seat frame 15 in whichmovement the stud 35 traverses the slot 32 toward the forward endthereof. The detachable pivot at the pin 24 may be disconnected aspreviously described which separates the back frame and the seat frameat this point making a gap through which the looped portions of thefabric seat body may be passed to remove the fabric body from the framefor cleaning.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be consideredcomprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

1 claim:

1. a seat comprising, a il-shaped seat frame, a iJ-shaped back frame,pivotal connections be tween the respective ends of said seat frame andback frame, one of said pivotal connections being detachable whereby agap may be formed between the side frame and the back frame and a fabricseat body having loops by which'it is connected to said seat frame andback frame, said loops being removable from said frame members bypassing them through said gap. v

2. The elements in. combination defined in claim 1, in which saiddetachable pivot connec-' tion comprises a headed stud on one of saidframe members and a slot at the other of said frame members, said slotbeing wide enough to receive the shank of said studand having anenlargement at its end in a direction away from the normal thrust of thestud, said enlargement being large enough to pass the head of the stud.

3. A device of the class described comprising, a supporting member, aU-shaped seat frame attached to and supported by said supporting member,a U-shaped back frame having its respective ends pivotally' connected tothe respective endsof the U-shaped seat frame, adjustable means forretaining the back frame in a plurality of angular positions relative tothe said frame and a fabric seat body attached to said back frame andsaid seat frame, one of said pivotal connections between the back frameand seat frame being detachable and the attachment of said fabric memberto said frames comprising loops which may be removed from said frames atthe gap formed by detaching said pivotal connection.

4. A device of the class described comprising,

a supporting member, a U-shaped seat frame attached to and supported bysaid supporting member, a U-shaped back frame having its respective endspivotally connected to the respective ends of the U-shaped seat frame,adjustable means for retaining the back frame in a plurality of angularpositions relative to the said seat frame and a fabric seat bodyattached to said back frame and said seat frame, said supportingmember-comprising two spaced apart side frames and said seat frameextending between said side frames and detachably connected thereto tohold the upper portions of said side frame in proper spaced apartrelation, combined with collapsible means for holding the lower portionsof said side frames in spaced apart relation at proper alinement, saidcollapsible means comprising folding brace members pivotally connectedto said side frames and stops on said side frames engaged by saidfolding braces when said braces are in ex tended position.

5. A seat of the class described comprising, an

open-ended seat frame, an open-ended back frame, pivotal connectionsbetween the open ends of said seat frame and the back framerespectively, one of said pivotal connections being detachable whereby agap may be formed between the side frame and the back frame and a'seatbody having a loop extending around said seat frame, said loop beingremovable by passing it through said gap.

6. A. device of the class described comprising, a supporting member, aseat frame attached to and supported by said supporting member, a backframe pivotally connected to the seat frame, adjustable means forretaining the back frame in a plurality of angular positions relative tothe said frame, a fabric seat body attached to said back frame and meansmounting said fabric seat body onto said seat frame so as to permit asliding movement for the purpose of automatic adjustment. JACOB KERSTEN.

